The scientific community has done an amazing job of designing, producing, and testing the COVID-19 vaccines in record time. But the roll-out is turning into a slow moving disaster, and it’s only going to get harder as we try to reach the wider population, many of whom do not have primary care providers or are not well integrated into our healthcare system.
So why can’t I sign up for the vaccine?
I looked everywhere - my health insurer’s website, LA public health’s website, Pfizer.com, Moderna.com, healthcare.gov. I know I’m not anywhere near first in line, but let me give you my critical info (name, contact, age, health conditions) so you can start to triage me - I think lots of other folks, especially those who are high risk, would be willing to sign up as well.
So after a few days hunting for a solution, our COVID-19 task force decided to start building it. We want to aggregate this information for public health departments, insurance companies, and vaccine manufacturers. We will provide a way for these entities to host a sign-up form and database, on their own websites, with a turn-key HIPAA compliant solution.
You can sign up to be notified when we launch. Please contact me if you are interested in getting involved in the project: we especially want to hear from public health departments who need our help.